Punalu’u Bake Shop

http://www.bakeshophawaii.com/ * Route 11 * Na`alehu (Big Island), Hawai`i 96772 * 1-866-366-3501 *The most notorious “Southern-most Bakery in the United States” at Latitude 19ş North of the Equator, is the Punalu’u Bake Shop off Route 11. An excellent stop off after seeing the sea turtles and black sand beaches in the area. The bakery specializes in Hawaiian Sweet Break which was introduced via Portugese sugar plantation workers in the 19th century. The Bake shop has adopted this import as their speciality, enhanced by their own traditional family recipe which takes 5 hours to produce. This Bakery was established in 1991 on the site of a former sugar plantation owner’s home. Upon my 8/8/09 visit, I had the pleasure of savoring the sweatbread as well as their donuts and orange slushie. Yum! Rating: 4 stars out of 5.